“No, I’m fine with anything.” Chu Sihang smiled warmly.

“What if you don’t eat?” Xuan Yanyu’s gaze darkened slightly as he turned to look at Chu Sihang.

Chu Sihang’s smile stiffened slightly.

“Can you keep your mouth shut?” Yan Yunning’s tone was even colder than Xuan Yanyu’s.

Whether it was because Yan Yunning’s words had hurt him or for some other reason, Xuan Yanyu didn’t say another word the entire way — it was Yan Yunning and Chu Sihang doing all the talking.

Yan Yunning didn’t pick a place too far away, choosing a restaurant that was very popular online. She parked the car, got out with Chu Sihang, and the two walked into the restaurant chatting and laughing.

Just before they reached the entrance, Chu Sihang looked back with a puzzled expression. “Didn’t Young Master Xuan get out of the car?”

“Never mind him.” Yan Yunning opened the restaurant door, reserved a private room, and ordered the signature dishes.

Then, in a moment of weakness, she also ordered the caviar and shrimp that Xuan Yanyu loved, along with the other dishes he usually enjoyed.

“Ningning, I’ll head to the private room first — you should still go call Young Master Xuan.” Chu Sihang said.

He had no desire to dine at the same table as Xuan Yanyu, but what could he do when the man was the heir to the Xuan Corporation?

Yan Yunning gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry — please don’t take what Xuan Yanyu said to heart. Just treat it as though he said nothing.”

The corner of Chu Sihang’s mouth curved upward. “It’s fine, I don’t mind.”

Anyone else, and he would have shot back immediately. But this was Xuan Yanyu.

Yan Yunning felt even more apologetic.

Chu Sihang generously smiled it off, then asked seriously, “Ningning, may I ask — what exactly is your relationship with Young Master Xuan?”

Yan Yunning squeezed her phone but didn’t answer directly, only saying, “Mr. Chu, you’re aware of what my brother intends. I’m very sorry.”

“I understand.” Chu Sihang pressed his lips together. “Being friends should still be alright though, shouldn’t it?”

Yan Yunning smiled faintly. “Of course.”

“Go on then — don’t keep Young Master Xuan waiting too long.” Chu Sihang urged her along.

Better not to have that man’s temper directed at his company.

“Alright, you head to the private room.” Yan Yunning smiled as she finished speaking, then turned and jogged out of the restaurant.

Chu Sihang shook his head. Didn’t she just say she wasn’t going to bother with him?

She was even running, and she still claimed she didn’t care.

——

The parking lot.

Yan Yunning didn’t see anyone in the car. She walked around the entire parking lot without spotting him either, so she took out her phone and called Xuan Yanyu.

He picked up quickly — barely one ring in, the listener filled with the man’s low, muffled voice. “What do you want?”

“Where are you?”

The man’s voice was deep and magnetic. “Behind you.”

Yan Yunning turned around and found Xuan Yanyu looking thoroughly displeased. The corners of her eyes curved with amusement. “Why didn’t you get out of the car earlier?”

“Didn’t want to interrupt you two.” Xuan Yanyu’s voice was flat.

Yan Yunning looked at him with a suppressed laugh. “It’s fine — I don’t mind at all.”

The man’s dark eyes narrowed slightly, gazing deeply at the smile playing in her features.

Yan Yunning beckoned him with a curl of her fingers. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

She suspected he hadn’t eaten much at home before coming to find her.

The man gave a cold snort. “No thanks. I’ll keep my mouth shut and not interrupt your little chat.”

“Xuan Yanyu.” Yan Yunning called his name as she slowly stepped toward him. “Think about it yourself — was it polite to say ‘What if you don’t eat?’ to someone you just met? If you hadn’t said that, would I have told you to shut up?”

Xuan Yanyu’s eyes dimmed for a moment. “Meeting someone for the first time and calling him ‘Sihang’ — is that polite?”

Yan Yunning blinked. “You didn’t hear him? He specifically said not to call him Mr. Chu, so how is calling him ‘Sihang’ impolite?”

The man’s deep eyes curved into a faint arc. “Yan Yunning, you’re really something.”

“I know I am.” Yan Yunning reached out two fingers and pinched the cuff of his shirt sleeve. “Come on — don’t keep him waiting.”

“Yan Yunning.” Xuan Yanyu exhaled slowly. Under the streetlight, the man’s head was slightly bowed, his handsome features shadowed with unmistakable displeasure. His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His thin lips slowly drew closer to the girl who was tilting her head up to look at him, eyes flickering. “You gave me a belt, a tie, and a ‘little umbrella.'”

“Then you cozied up calling another man by his first name and went to have dinner with him. Are you toying with me?”

Yan Yunning gave a light cough.

“What? Did I get it right?”

Yan Yunning cleared her throat and changed the subject. “How did you handle the matter with Shiyao?”

Xuan Yanyu licked his lips, took out his phone, and unlocked it. “I’ve recovered the compensation for the shoes — I’ll transfer it to you.”

Earlier at the hospital, he’d made a phone call from the car. The moment he hung up, he’d spotted Yan Yunning and Chu Sihang appearing together in the underground garage, and the sight had given him a headache.

Yan Yunning looked at the unnamed contact in the transfer, brow raised. “Who paid for it? The father of her child?”

“Yes. He compensated for the shoes and for causing you to fall. He also promised that Shiyao would apologize to you, and assured that nothing like today would happen again. He hopes you can forgive Shiyao.”

Xuan Yanyu completed the transfer, slipped the phone back into his pocket, and spoke with a restrained tone. “In a few days, once Shiyao is discharged and recovered, I’ll book her a plane ticket and send her back to be with him…”

Yan Yunning frowned. “Why?”

Logically, Shiyao’s boyfriend had left Shiyao in Xuan Yanyu’s care precisely to protect her and the child she was carrying.

Here in Yuzhao City, Xuan Yanyu was fully capable of keeping Shiyao safe.

So why the sudden change — sending Shiyao to him now?

“The child’s father doesn’t have long to live.”

The words Shiyao had spoken in the hospital room flashed through Yan Yunning’s mind. Combined with what Xuan Yanyu had just said about “sending Shiyao back to be with him,” the meaning suddenly became clear.

Xuan Yanyu sidestepped the question. “Weren’t we going to eat? Come on, let’s go in.”

“Xuan Yanyu.” Yan Yunning bit her lip. “There’s a recording I want you to listen to.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Without another word, Yan Yunning tapped to play the recording.

——

The second dinner with Chu Sihang also fell through. The moment Xuan Yanyu finished listening to the recording, he wanted to go to the hospital.

Unwilling to leave Yan Yunning and Chu Sihang alone to eat together, he had Ye Jian settle the bill, informed Chu Sihang, then pulled Yan Yunning along to the hospital.

Obstetrics and Gynecology — VIP Ward.

When Shiyao saw Xuan Yanyu, her eyes lit up with startling brightness. “A’Yu, it’s so late — why did you come?”

“Miss Shiyao.” Ye Jian placed a laptop on the hospital bed, where the security footage from the Xuan estate played back from earlier that day.

“Please explain why you pulled Miss Yan down.” Ye’an said coldly.

Ye Chen, watching the footage replay, clicked his tongue inwardly — their Young Master Xuan was truly something else. Miss Yan had already steadied herself, and he had to go grab her arm, almost as if he was afraid she wouldn’t fall.

Shiyao’s eyes reddened. “I… I was in so much pain I could barely function. I grabbed her instinctively — it wasn’t intentional.”

Ye Jian smiled faintly and rewound the footage. “Alright, we’ll come back to that. What about using the mop to drag it across Miss Yan’s shoes on purpose? Please give a reasonable explanation for that, Miss Shiyao.”

Ye’an curled the corner of his mouth. “Miss Shiyao, the hall is quite large. Miss Yan stood there for nearly five or six minutes. There’s no way you didn’t see her. Yet you deliberately dragged the mop across her shoes. Think carefully before you answer.”

——